A/N Edit:
One of my lovely reviewers brought to my attention that doesn't allow things to be copied from the website, so my advice of taking the foreign language to Google Translate is not an option! What I will do however, is, if you write a review or PM me saying you'd like to know, I will PM you back with the sentences all written out for you so you can take them to Google Translate, if you're not bothered writing out specific words in GT.
Sorry about that!
A/N: Hello readers! What did everyone think of 2x06?
*SPOILERS*
I wasn't too happy, I must confess, with everyone's acceptance of what Finn did. I truly hope there are repercussions at some point. He deserves no less.
*END OF SPOILERS*
I am so happy to be bringing you another chapter of Catastrophe Theory! This is, in my opinion, not the best chapter, and to be honest, it doesn't have quite a lot of the plot in it. It's pretty much a filler chapter, a way to keep the plot going without creating some odd loopholes or situations.
There is some nice fluff, I think, and some very sweet moments.
Now, the language that I used for the Grounders is Esperanto. You are more than welcome to take my sentences to Google Translate and translate them to English (that's what I did the other way around) or if you are fortunate enough to understand the "universal language", then hurrah for you (I'm well jealous), you can understand the story from the get-go! Because I used Google Translate, I imagine some of the grammar, and perhaps the vocabulary is a bit off. I apologize.
Thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers! You are my inspiration to continue writing. Unfortunately as there are so many of you now, I won't be able to individually respond, but please feel free to PM me if you have any questions, or want to make a comment you don't feel comfortable leaving in the reviews.
Thank you to: emilyzombies, xxqueenofbookjunglexx, Zombiedoughnut, Dark-Supernatural-Angel, Guest 1, lola, tazzynazzy, Emmmmmaniac, Ettani, albaseo, and Guest 2.
Seriously, you guys are the best. Everyone had such nice things to say and I appreciate it so much!
Now. Enjoy Chapter 4 of Catastrophe Theory!
Catastrophe Theory
Chapter 4
4 days after Bellamy and Clarke's row
Clarke awoke in an unfamiliar bed.
She started in fright, and nearly leapt out before she relaxed with memory. She was in the grounder camp to the south, had arrived just before sundown the night before. She'd wrestled with herself whether or not she wanted to approach the Grounders or if she wanted to just observe, and learn as much as she could. As much as she had protested, Bellamy had had a point, and waltzing into an unknown camp and declaring a truce could possibly be the stupidest thing ever.
The choice was taken out of her hands, though, when a large man on a horse had snatched her up, not brutally, actually everything involving her treatment had been quite gentle. She'd been deposited in front of whom she assumed was the Chieftain.
"Kiu vi estas?" The regal woman had demanded.
"I-I-I beg your pardon?" Clarke had done her best to look like the leader of her tribe, but that had obviously fallen flat with her sputtering and struggle to understand what exactly was happening.
"Ĉi tiu estas idiota." The woman turned to the man that had brought Clarke to her.
"Ne, mia reĝino, ŝi estas de la Ĉielo!" The man seemed to disagree with the woman. Clarke watched this exchange, catching very little. She had studied the ancient language of Latin when she'd started her medical studies, but that was years (felt like centuries) ago. She could tell there was some similarity in their words to those in her textbooks, but she had no idea what they were saying.
"Kie vi trovis ŝin, Jozefo?"
Clarke was starting to wonder if this had truly been a bad idea. She'd just been so angry! She had just wanted to prove to Bellamy, and all those idiots that had nodded along with him, that people weren't inherently evil! That peace could be brokered without first killing a few members of each side.
"Mi sekvis ilian spiono. Tiam mi sekvis sxin. Ŝi rigardis nin, sur la norda kresto."
Clarke decided now was as good as time as any to speak up. "Excuse me." Both heads turned to her as if they'd forgotten she was there. "Er-Sorry. English. Anyone, speak, English?" Clarke started comically waving her hands, trying to convey her thoughts.
A young man, maybe sixteen years of age spoke up.
"Mia reĝino, mi povas paroli iuj de la Ĉielo virina lingvo. Ĉu mi rajtas?" The woman, the queen, just raised her head.
"Yes, ladee, I Engolich!"
Clarke felt the tension go out of her. Someone spoke English!
"Oh, oh, that's great. That's wonderful. Can you tell your chieftain I mean no harm?"
"I sorry, ladee, I no know. Less words?" The boy's face was confused, and distressed.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm speak slower. Tell her," Clarke pointed to the woman in charge. "no fighting. Understand?"
"Fi-Fiting, ladee?"
The conversations continued slowly from there, and thought it was obviously the young man's English skills were incredibly poor, Clarke did her best not to give up. It was, Clarke guessed, three or four hours later before her hosts were satisfied with her intentions enough to offer her a bed for the night, and a meal. She'd crashed into the small tent, and onto the rolled up animal furs. Nothing had been so comfy in months.
Now that it was the next morning, Clarke decided to get down to business. She'd find the young man, Ludoviko, and she'd go and have as much as a conversation with her hostess as possible. She wanted to leave tonight, once she'd negotiated happily enough. She guessed her note she'd left for Bellamy in the large common room might appease him for a few days, but the longer she didn't come back, the more he'd convince himself something was wrong and he'd come barreling after her, guns blazing, trailing the entirety of their military force.
At that moment, Bellamy was indeed tearing through the forest, followed by an army.
He'd spent the rest of the day (after breaking down in front of his sister and, mortifyingly, her husband) asking all of the heads of the sectors to get as much detail as they could from everyone about when she was seen last. Finally one of the guards had approached Lincoln and recalled that he had let Clarke out to gather some herbs at around half past the hour of four in the morning the night after Bellamy and Clarke's blowup. He hadn't seen her return but his shift had ended at six in the morning and had assumed someone else let her in.
Octavia tried to reason that perhaps she had gone to try and negotiate with the Grounders, after all Lincoln had said someone would speak English. Raven had agreed with her on this front, but neither of them could explain why she hadn't told someone that she was going to do this. Even if it was some random person (none of her friends, the Representatives or Bellamy would have let her go), she still would have let someone know where she was headed.
"She did. She told that guard kid that she was picking plants, and three days later, she's not fucking back!" Bellamy felt as if someone was holding his heart, just a little too tightly, just a little too roughly. His brain was fuzzy, and to hear what people said he had to concentrate on their words. His focus slipped far too often with the thought of Clarke tied up, and beaten and… he couldn't even think of it.
"We're going after her. I want everyone ready by dawn."
He went back to his, their, house, and tried to sleep. Three hours later, he found himself wrapped up in Clarke's blankets, taking in her scent. Once he fell into a fitful sleep, he dreamed of her.
He woke at the first noise of people beginning to prepare for an attack, and was pacing at the main gate within five minutes.
The only moment he would later be able to define was when Octavia, all two and a half of her, toddled up with a rifle and a pack.
"Not a snowball's chance in hell, O. Turn right the fuck around and sit tight."
"Bellamy! She's my friend too, my best friend. If you think I'm going to just waddle around this fucking camp while I wait to hear if… if… she's alright, you're much more stupid than I always knew." Bellamy hesitated for a moment. A very pregnant, irrational Octavia was scary. Really, absolutely terrifying.
"You can't even walk around camp, you might have the baby any damn day, and Lincoln, and I, would be beyond distracted trying to protect you. What does he have to say about this little stunt?"
Octavia pouted. "He didn't even let me talk. He just said, 'No', and walked away."
Bellamy felt a laugh, a laugh, bubble up in his throat. Just then, Lincoln showed up, shot Octavia the darkest look, full of unsaid threats, and said, "Senator Blake, we are ready."
"Good. Let's go."
Clarke wanted to tear her hair out and scream. The only thing that kept her from trying was she wasn't sure if the Grounders might take that to mean that she was hungry and could walk on her hands.
They were incredibly dependent on body language, something that had taken poor Ludoviko far too long to explain. It had only dawned on her while trying to tell him that they lived 30 miles to the north, and had for many years, and everyone had jumped up and drawn weapons. Ludoviko had shouted in protest and going between his language and very broken English he managed to diffuse the situation.
He had scolded Clarke for insulting his people harshly and she must have had such a confused look on her face that he understood and took a half hour explaining that their hands were used extensively in their language. She had apparently rubbed the side of her chin while speaking before, which meant she had suggested the leader do something extremely unsavory with a bear.
Why a bear, Clarke couldn't understand.
"Please tell your queen that all we wish for is peace. I want to be friends with you." Clarke was trying to speak slowly for Ludoviko, but he just wasn't understanding. Furthermore, her natural instinct to include her words with gestures had to be suppressed to avoid another conflict like before.
"Kion ŝi volas?" The queen, whose name was apparently Venka, looked slightly impatient.
"Bonvolu, mia reĝino, mi havas problemojn kompreni kelkajn vortojn." Ludoviko turned to Clarke after addressing Venka.
"I no know dees. Frend? Pees?"
Clarke tried to explain, in several different ways. At last out of frustration she brought her fingers together and held them out. "Friends. Peace."
This caused quite a stir, with members of the clan whispering, and the queen and the translator having a loud heated discussion. Clarke really hoped she hadn't just said something awful.
Then the queen's lieutenant, Jozefo, spoke. "Petu ŝin, se ŝi donas al ni edzinojn!"
Ludoviko raised pleading eyes to his queen, she looked back unwavering. He sighed and turned to Clarke. "You mean…" He held his hands up as Clarke had. "Togezer?" He pointed to Clarke, "Peeple and…" His finger moved to the queen. "joined?"
Clarke smiled with relief. "Yes! Yes, we will be friends!" Ludoviko smiled too, and translated to Venka.
Venka stood and walked to Clarke. She pulled Clarke up from the low chair she'd been in and embraced her. "Diru al ŝi, ni estos fratinoj!"
Ludoviko said, "Queen says, you be from same mozer!" Clarke laughed, and agreed to be swept up into an impromptu celebration. There was dancing, some questionable food that Clarke didn't want to think about, and liquor as strong as Monty's and far more flavorful.
It was late into the night before Clarke even remembered that she'd been meaning to leave for Haven that day. She dragged Ludoviko away from a relatively pretty Grounder girl, and told him to let her hosts she was leaving, but that she'd return with others from her camp.
Just before she left she asked him. "Ludoviko, what is the name of your tribe?"
He struggled, but finally said. "We Fajra people."
She thanked him, and despite the late hour and the fuzziness in her head from the three and a half cups of Fajran liquor, set out towards home.
Bellamy called a halt to progression around midnight. As desperate as he was to find Clarke, he knew it was stupid to expect his soldiers to go through the night. The set up camp quickly and a few sentries were posted. Bellamy elected to stay up as well, unwilling to miss the chance of hearing or seeing something useful.
They'd been travelling hard, and had travelled a distance that would've taken someone travelling more leisurely two, maybe even three, days. Julian said they were no more than 5 miles away from the camp. Bellamy planned for tomorrow to be the day they'd scope the place out, see if they could spot Clarke, and try and gauge their enemy's capabilities.
It was a practiced dance at this point. Lincoln, Miller and Bellamy had been scouting, assessing, and battling enemy camps for five years. Just because it'd been nearly two years since they'd actually fought anyone did not mean they were any less prepared, or skilled.
Miller came up behind him. "Bellamy," he said, dropping the title now no pesky Representatives were around. "What are we going to do if she's not there?"
"She's there."
"How can you be so sure?"
Bellamy turned to look at his long-time friend, and more trusted advisors. "Do you really think it's a coincidence that they day after one of your scouts comes back hollering about new Grounders, she just up and disappears after an early morning jaunt into the woods?"
Miller bristled at Bellamy's tone. "If you're implying Julian had anything –"
"Of course I am! He led them right to us!" He hissed furiously.
"We both know Clarke shouldn't have been out there in the first place!" Miller shot back.
Bellamy stepped back, shocked. "You can't be blaming her, Clarke, for this?"
"It was foolish! She should've known better than to go outside when we had so little intel on these new Grounders!"
Bellamy just shook his head in awestruck disbelief. After everything Clarke had done for Miller, at Mount Weather, when he'd just about been hanged by the previous Chancellor, when he'd nearly gotten himself drawn and quartered for marrying some Grounder girl without obtaining Clan permission.
He was just about to retort when he heard one of the scouts signal, "One unknown person."
Bellamy and Miller raced to the scout, doing their best to stay silent.
"Where?" Bellamy barely breathed once he'd moved close enough to the sentry.
The sentry pointed, and a figure became apparent. He, or she, didn't seem to be trying to cover his tracks. In fact, he wasn't at all concerned with concealing his position, but instead was just walking in a straight line, careful to avoid holes and roots on the ground. He titled his head up to look at the stars, and Bellamy felt the intense pressure that had been slowly squeezing the life out of his heart, out of him, release.
He leapt up, and in just a few quick strides he'd reached her. She squeaked in surprise, and tried to struggle free but he just held her, stroking her hair and whispering over and over, "I've got you. You're safe." He couldn't remember feeling so relaxed, so happy. She wasn't dead, she was here, with him. She… was biting him!
He wrenched back, but kept hold of her shoulders. "What the hell, Clarke?!"
She'd been screeching, and doing her best to knock him away from her but froze at her name. And then blinked at him.
"Bellamy? What are you doing?"
He scoffed incredulously. "I'm saving you, you idiot!"
"Saving me?"
"Yeah, how the hell did you get away from them?"
Clarke starred at him, uncomprehending. "From who?"
Bellamy suppressed a scream. "The god-fucking-damn Grounders, you absolute imbecile!"
She starred at him.
"Have you been drinking or something?" He tried to keep his voice calm, but this was infuriating.
She blushed, "Well, yes, but I just wanted to get a start on going home, so I decided to leave tonight because I think if I stayed any later I wouldn't –"
Bellamy waved his hands in front of her. "What is God's name are you talking about?"
"I-I, the Grounders? They're called the Fajra Clan, by the way, and I was able to get them to convince to a peaceful relationship, and –"
Bellamy felt the pressure return, except in full force, and he couldn't contain it anymore. "Are you saying, are you saying that you-you came here, by yourself, without telling anyone, to make a peace pact?" Clarke took a step back from him involuntarily. Bellamy's voice had gone quiet, low, and was vibrating with rage.
"No, Bell, I-I left you a note! Didn't-didn't you see the note?" Clarke couldn't keep the doubt out of her voice.
He exploded. "NO I DIDN'T SEE YOUR MOTHER-FUCKING NOTE! GOD DAMMIT, CLARKE! I THOUGHT YOU'D BEEN KIDNAPPED! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD, OR ABOUT TO BECOME SOME SLIMY GROUNDER'S BED SLAVE!"
Clarke felt her back straighten. "It's not my fault you jumped to conclusions! I left you a fucking note!"
"YOU CAN'T JUST RUN OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! NOTE OR NO NOTE, YOU CAN'T JUST DECIDE IT'S UP TO YOU TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE UNKNOWN GROUNDERS!"
"IT'S NOT LIKE YOU WERE GOING TO! YOU WERE GOING TO ATTACK THEM!"
Bellamy's blood was still boiling, but he knew better than anyone shouting with Clarke only made her that much more stubborn. "You know what Clarke? I actually wasn't going to, before you ran off. But then when I thought they'd grabbed you, I mobilized the entire fucking military and we raced down here trying to get to you before it's too late, and all the while you were drinking and dancing and God knows what else with a camp full of the very people we were coming down to kill."
He turned and stormed into their camp. Clarke followed, like the old-earthen terrier, at his heels, shouting and criticizing the entire way. "If you had just listened to me in the first place, then you wouldn't have had to 'race down here'!"
"Leave me alone, Clarke."
"You can't keep doing this, Bellamy! I'm a grown ass woman, and I can take care of my fucking self!"
"Leave me alone."
"How many times did I bail your ass out of trouble, huh? You don't see me holding that over your head do you?"
"Clarke."
"No, Blake! I'm so sick of how god-damned controlling you are! I don't need you to save me all the time! I don't need—"
He whirled and grabbed her arms. "STOP. JUST STOP."
She looked surprised, but Bellamy knew that was going to only be momentary. "Just because you don't need to be saved doesn't mean that I don't want to save you! I was so fucking worried! All I could think was that you'd been thrown into some Grounder pit and were slowly being eaten alive by God knows what. I couldn't get the pictures out of my head, of you dead, or missing limbs, or being r-raped." On impulse, he shook her as if to drive his point home.
"You know better, Clarke! You're no longer that idealistic girl fresh off the drop ship, thinking all of the world's fucking problems could be solved with a promise and a kiss! We've gone through too fucking much for you to start underestimating the world again! This is real shit, Clarke!"
She stared at him, eyes glistening, and he heaved, emotionally and physically exhausted from the last four days of stress and worry and fear.
Bellamy felt her arms go around his waist, and he couldn't help but gather the woman into his own arms. His anger didn't completely dissipate, but he felt it simmer away until it was just a small speck, something to be dealt with later. For now he was happy to just be grateful Clarke was safe.
Clarke was happy to just lay her head on Bellamy's chest. At a later time, she'd discuss what had happened at the Fajran camp with her co-Senator, and she was sure they'd have another screaming match about the rest of the events of the last four days. She'd have to deal with the camp of Havenite soldiers, and she'd have to talk to Lincoln and see if he'd ever heard of people like these. But for now, she was completely exhausted, pretty damn drunk, and extremely comfy.
So, for now, Clarke decided the best thing to do would be to go to sleep, and that is what she did.
There you have it! I hope you enjoyed it, and I apologize for its subpar quality and length. I do promise that the next chapter will be much better!
I have a request for those of you that decide to translate the Fajran Grounders' words (or speak their language already). Please do not comment on their content within the reviews. If you would like to confirm with me if your translations are correct, please PM first! I would just like to keep the mystery of the story for everyone who prefers it that way.
It may be a little while before I'm able to update again. I know, up until now it's been pretty regular, but I am going into my last legs of my college degree and I'm also going through interviews for jobs, and I'll be flying home to America in about a week. I have quite a lot to do in very little time, so please do not despair if I don't have another chapter up until after the 13th. I haven't forgotten about you dear readers!
For anyone interesting in learning more about Esperanto: wiki/Esperanto
Have a wonderful couple weeks!